With so many accessible, engaging and customisable ecommerce websites currently online and with so many people even opting to sell through online marketplaces like Ebay, Amazon and Etsy, focusing on the minor details has never been more important for online businesses looking for success.
While selling online might appear to be an easy way to make money online, there are still a number of things to consider before taking the leap into ecommerce. From your website functionality to your shipping and delivery methods, there’s plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong, here’s 7 of the most common ecommerce pitfalls and how you can avoid them.
Poor Product Images
One drawback to buying online is that your customers don’t have the opportunity to pick up your items and test them out, which is why high quality product photos are so important. Your customers want to know exactly what they’re buying online, so by including high quality images that show your products from all angles and even include the option to zoom, you can offer a full view of your products. Don’t forget the importance of images, while your price and shipping might be spot on, without the perfect images your customers could be sent shopping elsewhere.
Confusing Checkout Process
When buying online your customers want a simple checkout process, letting them work their way through the checkout process in an easy and quick way, with as few clicks as possible. In order to create a simple checkout process it’s a good idea to keep your checkout to one page or look to feature a progress bar which tells customers how much is left of the checkout process, if it’s too long or your customers don’t know how long it’ll be, there’s no reason they’ll want to complete the process. If your checkout process is too complicated then don’t be surprised if your customers give up and head elsewhere.
Not Knowing Your Customers
It’s likely that your business won’t be suitable for everyone, unfortunately you can’t please everyone and nor should you want to, instead you should aim to find your target audience and reach out to them. If you don’t know your customers you could be in trouble, which is why it’s so important you do you research before you start selling online. Finding out what your target audience are after, what their interests are and what platforms they might be using allows you to gain more of an insight into who you’re looking to reach out to and how you can beat the competition.
Limited Shipping Options
Your customers want options especially when it comes to your shipping and delivery, which is why it’s key that you aim to offer a number of shipping methods, including delivery time, price and even possibly click and collect options. With only one shipping option available it can make deciding on whether or not to buy an item more difficult, especially if your shipping is expensive or doesn’t fit around your customers needs conveniently. A diverse range of shipping options is needed if you’re looking to reach largest audiences.
Lacking Product Descriptions
Your product descriptions are just as important as your product photos and should always be optimised to promote your products. A detailed product description that not only tells your customers about what they can expect from your products, including materials and manufacturing techniques but one that also answers any questions they might have is equally as important as your product images and shouldn’t be ignored if you’re looking to generate more sales online and make your ecommerce store a success.
Losing Focus
When it comes to launching your online store there’s a lot of details to think about, from pricing strategies and product photos to delivery methods and customer service, there’s a lot to consider. However, it’s important not to get too caught up in these details, by not having a plan and not knowing how to prioritise you could find yourself losing focus on the main goal, causing a lack of motivation and leading to a lack of sales. By keeping your customers happy and keeping the balance between the details and your service you can keep focus and keep generating those sales.
Running an online store isn’t simple and it’s important to understand what can go wrong, by knowing and understanding where you might be going wrong, rectifying your issues can be much simpler, leaving you with more time to think about increasing your traffic, optimising your ecommerce store and ultimately generating more sales.
